Melanie Stokes
Melanie Miller Stokes is an artist, a teacher, a wife, a mother, a mother-in-law, a grandmother and a friend. Retired from 26 years of teaching in Georgia public schools, twenty of those as a K-8 Art Teacher, she now lives on 29 acres near Waco, Texas and primarily paints in oil.
She began exhibiting in juried exhibitions through Georgia Art Educators’ Association, and later was accepted into multiple juried exhibits through galleries and groups in the Atlanta, Augusta, and Statesboro, Georgia areas. Many paintings of homes, animals, people, and special places have been commissioned and are purchased by collectors throughout the U.S. She has been represented by galleries in Blue Ridge, Washington, Eatonton and Thomson, Georgia and Daufuskie Art of Daufuskie Island, SC.
Painting outside has greatly influenced her growth as an artist. Beginning with day trips with artist, Kita Macon, she realized the learning curve of going from studio to outdoors. She became a believer in its importance after attending Plein Air workshops taught by Laurel Daniel, David Boyd, Leon Holmes, and the fabulous faculty of Plein Air South in Florida.
She blogs about the Story Behind the Painting on her website, www.melaniestokesart.com .
B.A. in Communications – Shorter College, Rome GA M.Ed. in Art Education – Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA